Pearl-y gates

February 9 2007

.

Image:Pearl-y gates The Pearl has arrived.

The kind people at RIM have provided me with a Blackberry Pearl loaner, which I connected up last night.

First blush -- I gotta figure out how to keep my work and my personal life separate.  That has been my concern with a Blackberry all along, and the initial setup confirms that I'm going to be thinking about this.  For one, I now have all sorts of IBMers populating my contacts list, and for another, the "new mail" inbox and indicator don't distinguish between SMSs and e-mail to my IBM address.  I'm sure there are filters I can set for both of these, but the default is to mash my worlds together.

As for the device itself, I'm very pleased.  It's so small!   I haven't had a candy-bar mobile phone in a while, so I need to get in the habit of locking the keyboard again....though the fact that IBM's configuration asks me for a password when I unlock is a bit frustrating.  I am tempted to make my password something a lot easier.

The predictive text is very very good.  Type i-v-e-space and you'll get "I've".  The dual-tap keyboard is taking some getting used to, but that's more about me never having had a PDA device with a QWERTY keyboard.

The display -- wow.  There's just so much information all at once...it feels like the inflection point where the technology has caught up with the consumer.  And it's very intuitive to navigate.  The pearl (trackball) works just as you'd expect it to.  I was even impressed that it acts as the digital zoom control when taking a picture (now if I could just figure out the flash control).

Clearly there is a lot more to explore about this Pearl in the coming weeks.  I'll be sure to let you all know if you need to start a collection to buy me one of those "crackberry" crash helmets.  Stay tuned...

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Blackberry Pearl  Add/View Comments [16]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Chris Whisonant http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com | 2/9/2007 4:01:37 PM

    Enjoy!! I've had one since early December. You can change the audible notification for the messages received as well as turning on or off the vibrate. That could help you know if you got an SMS...

  1. 2  Brooks Jordan http://www.sortanalytics.com | 2/9/2007 5:05:57 PM

    Ed,

    Yes, the trackball is great to have on the Pearl, particularly if you've used a Blackberry before but then went back to a regular phone, as I did.

    And you're right: the predictive text makes the smaller keyboard doable.

    But it's the form factor (and sound quality) that really has me enjoying my Pearl - two aspects that I didn't necessarily expect.

  1. 3  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 2/9/2007 6:03:14 PM

    The password is frustrating but necessary. Best hidden feature: press the mute button (top of the device, left side) for one second and it goes into standby. Only a phone call, an alarm or a short press of the same button will wake it up. No mode backlight in your trouser pants.

  1. 4  Kelly Drahzal http://kellypuffs.wordpress.com/ | 2/10/2007 10:21:29 AM

    I have total Pearl envy. :-)

  1. 5  Scott http://thebigredshark.com | 2/10/2007 10:57:15 AM

    Yes its a great phone .. although I'd check the firmware version you are on. I got a Pearl in January this year and the firmware was something like 10 point versions old.

    And it turned out that this early version had a 'bug' of sorts - if your phone rings, as soon as the scroll ball is moved the ringer stops ... great! An upgrade to v4.2.0.64 did the trick.

    Volker's tip is great - but I doubt it avoids this problem.

  1. 6  Wojciech Kroczak http://www.dysant.com | 2/10/2007 1:19:37 PM

    I've been using Pearl for a month.

    For me it is immpossible to use it with this set of keybord. It's easy to use to old set of buttons or use the full QWERTY in BB 8700 - but I can't get used to the Pearl's set. It is horrible.

  1. 7  Chris Whisonant http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com | 2/10/2007 7:46:22 PM

    Oh yeah, you may find that you can't delete messages from your BES (if you connect). This is a known issue with the 4.2 firmware that RIM is working on.

  1. 8  Charlie  | 2/11/2007 7:43:38 AM

    I love the Pearl. I have more trouble typing on the 8700 ... keys are too close and I'm constantly hitting 2 or 3 at a time. The key with predictive text on the BlackBerry is to type the entire word before changing anything. This works 95% of the time for dictionary words. And that % goes up as it learns your vocabulary.

    The deletions issue is (I believe) resolved in handheld software version 4.2.0.71 (I'm using a Cingular device, so your carrier's version may be different).

  1. 9  Cell Geek  http://www.thecellfreak.com | 2/11/2007 11:50:21 AM

    The trackball is what amuses me, it's basically combining a PC mouse with a cell phone.

  1. 10  Samuel deHuszar Allen  | 2/11/2007 1:17:05 PM

    I've had the Pearl since late last Sept. It's a beautiful device. For me the predictive text is a nightmare. I just use the multi-tap, and I can blaze through texts and emails with ease.

  1. 11  Samuel deHuszar Allen  | 2/11/2007 1:19:36 PM

    BTW, if you are able to figure out a strategy for separating work and personal emails/calendar entries/address book entries please post. At present, using categories/filters seems the only way, but that's not so useful for emails. Especially if you don't like to push everything into folders.

  1. 12  Kurt B http://www.onthehoist.com | 2/12/2007 9:11:33 AM

    The 8800 is at the 3GSM World Congress in Spain.

    Coverage over at Gizmodo.

    "RIM's hot new BlackBerry 8800—hanging from a metallic, octopus-like tentacle at the RIM booth. We knew the 8800 was coming, but now that we got some time to play with it, I gotta say—it's a huge improvement over the Pearl. (I was never a fan of SureType). The full QWERTY keyboard is big and easy to use (especially if you have big paws like me). There's also a QVGA display, a microSD slot, and though it's wider than the Pearl, I kinda like the extra junk in the trunk. And of course there's the signature white nipple sitting right in the 8800's midriff. "

  1. 13  Sean Harris  | 2/12/2007 11:39:14 AM

    I had the predecessor to the Pearl, and liked it. I now have the 8700 and love it, and am under the adage of "if it's not broke, don't fix it". Maybe I'll get a Pearl (or an iPhone :^ ) when the 8700 gives up the ghost.

    P.S. I love the inline spell check Ed

  1. 14  Tim Rand  | 2/12/2007 4:51:08 PM

    I've been using a Pearl since they came out w/ T-Mobile - since Sept, I think. I like it a lot. Syncs to my Mac, Notes, etc.

    Of course as @12 says, You just missed the 8800 with its full QWERTY keyboard.

  1. 15  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 2/12/2007 4:58:26 PM

    @14 I know... I knew it was coming, too. But I liked the form factor of a Pearl ... and the less keyboard the better, it will help me with work/life balance.